


For The Soul

by symsonic



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 02:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/symsonic/pseuds/symsonic
Summary: "Are you kidding me?" Chris replies. "Have you SEEN Cody live by himself?"





	For The Soul

Every year it happens without fail. Around the same time. 

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, whatever it’s called.

Chris Taylor leaves to see his family on the east coast for Thanksgiving. Before he leaves, everything is fine, in order and in place.

But when he returns. Something is different. It can be subtle, like the wall paint being a slightly different color of beige, or the living room decor rearranged a bit. Or it could be drastic, like a 70-inch TV smacked in the middle of the dining room where his pots and pans used to be. Or a drone flying inside the actual apartment harassing him. It’s gotten to to the point where Chris dreads to come back home and find out what his roommate has done to the place.

One year when returning he saw a pile of open Amazon boxes outside by the dumpster and he felt his stomach turn inside out.

_ What did Cody order? What did he do to the place? Is my Playstation still there? Is my bed still there? _

He couldn’t remember whose idea it was to move in with him. Chris thinks he remembers hearing Seager talking about shacking up with teammates over the offseason to improve chemistry, but he didn’t think Corey actually moved in with anyone? Maybe he was talking about the concept. And for Cody? He’s not a terrible guy. He actually means pretty well. There was never any malice in his intentions.

Last year Cody bought several Google Homes because he wanted to create a “Super Smart Home”. In reality, it just created a cacophony of disembodied voices repeating the same words over and over again until Chris had trouble hearing his own thoughts.

_ “I uh … didn’t think they would do that.” _ Cody looks away, having the trouble to look at a tired, sleepless and angry Chris eye to eye.

Reaching in his pocket for his keys, a cough escapes Chris. He ignores it, figuring he was probably tired from all the traveling. Once he dealt with Cody, he’ll try to take a nap. He opens the door and takes a long look around the living room.

Everything looked the same.

It actually made Chris kind of paranoid.  _ Everything looked the same.  _ He storms over to the TV and sofa and observed them both. Nothing different. Then he went over to the side tables. Nothing. Same with the dining room, kitchen and Chris’ bedroom. Absolutely nothing was changed, altered or moved around. He puts down his luggage on his bed and walks back into the living room, where he found an overly excited Cody Bellinger waiting for him.

_ “Hey buddy! How was the trip?” _

Chris gives another cough before responding.  _ “It was great. I met my new nieces and nephews. Loaded up on home cooking. Watched some football. I loved it.” _ It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.  _ “How was your holiday?” _

Cody gives a big smile.  _ “It was great man! We tried deep fried turkey for the first time. We uh … might have short circuited the house twice but it was sooo good!” _ He begins to trail off, as if his head was in the clouds thinking about the turkey.  _ “There’s leftovers in the fridge if you want to try some.” _

Taylor gives a short laugh and contemplates it for a moment.  _ “Maybe after I take a nap.” _ This next part Chris dreads every year.

_ “So, uh … did any shopping?” _

Bellinger lights up.  _ “Of course I did!” _

Chris’ eyes remained static.

He continues. _ “I was thinking about doing something different this year. I’m always buying stuff and gadgets to improve the house, but never stuff to improve us, you get it?” _

The only thing that could be heard in Chris Taylor’s mind could be best described as incoherent screaming.

_ “What?” _ The only word Chris could sanely put together.

_ “Sooo, I bought us some memberships to Pole Position!” _

Cody’s last words had to sit with Taylor for a few moments. Pole Position was a coed fitness club, but their specialty was in  _ pole dancing _ . They weren’t exactly training aspiring pole dancers, but the mobility someone would obtain while taking pole dancing lessons would be very beneficial. Especially in what both Cody and Chris do for a living.

But  _ still. _

_ “Pole dancing lessons?” _ Chris squints at Cody, trying to put together Bellinger’s own thought process coming up with this plan.  _ “Are you goddamned crazy? Couldn’t you have bought a thousand dollar RC car?” _

_ “But it’ll be great offseason training!” _ Cody’s spirit hasn’t diminished in the slightest. He’s really gung-ho on this pole dancing thing.  _ “It’ll really help us in our flexibility.” _

_ “Can’t we just hit up the Dodgers gym?” _

_ “I mean, we could but I learned the best way to improve is to always try new and different stuff. Pole dancing is as different as they come too!” _

Chris crosses his arms. Even if his teammate slash roommate was correct, he’d die before admitting it right now. He takes a quick stretch and realizes almost his entire body is aching. He attributed it to long week he had.  _ “Listen can we talk this over after I sleep?” _

_ “Yea-yeah! Of course!” Cody replies. “I’ll see you in a bit.” _

Taylor drags himself back into his bedroom and shuts the door. Right now he didn’t feel up for Cody’s shenanigans. Bellinger could burn the house down and Chris wouldn’t care. As long as he got to sleep. He pushes his luggage off the bed, and takes off his shoes and socks. It was to the point where Chris was desperate enough to sleep in his actual clothes. Climbing into bed, his last thoughts before drifting away was if the media could pick up their possible pole dancing exploits. It’s only a few more moments before he goes to sleep.

Chris wakes up a few hours later, and his entire body feels like a brick.

\---

Chris’ body was trembling. His throat burned and it took extreme effort to even turn over in bed. He contemplated getting up to use the washroom, but even that would take extreme mental and physical duress. 

The next few days were kind of a blur to Chris. He remembers Enrique stopping by to check up on both him and Cody, but he also remembers seeing him in pajamas for whatever reason.

He didn't bother asking his roommate was going on. He was just grateful it was somewhat peaceful. It was weird actually. Kik é would just be around at all times it seemed like. Listening to music, watching Comcast SportsNet (which was a no in this house), or playing with Cody on the PS4. Chris didn’t mind. At least his roommate was properly distracted enough where he didn’t have to worry about Cody changing the wallpaper a different color overnight.

One night Chris, still feeling the aches and chills of whatever he had, left his bedroom to use the washroom, which was across the hall, passing the living room. He came across both Cody and  Kik é on the sofa, watching some sort of movie together in the dark. Enrique was clutching the popcorn tightly, his eyes engaged with whatever was on the screen. Cody was equally enthralled, nervously stuffing his mouth with buttery popcorn. Chris decides to watch the movie a little, walking towards the tv. Getting close enough to the sofa, Chris decides to make his presence known.

_ “What are you guys watching?”  _

Kik é shrieks, the bucket of popcorn flying into the air and makes a mess everywhere. Cody jumps into the corner, frightened more by Enrique’s reaction than Chris himself.  Chris is full of NyQuil to the point where he doesn’t react. He just stares at Kik é tiredly.

_ “H..hi Chris. We’re just here… _ ” Enrique looking at Cody. _ “Just here watching a movie…” _

Chris continues to stare at them.

_ “I’ll clean up I promise.”  _ Kik é frowns.

Taylor turns around and drags himself to the washroom. That’s all he remembers from that night.

He  _ does _ remember the night after because something actually remarkable happened. He guessed that  Kik é wasn’t going to stay over because on Cody mentioned he was at dinner with Chase and his family. Meaning Cody was home alone.

_ Shit.  _ Chris thought.

It wasn’t the fear of Cody blowing up the apartment that made Chris worry. He actually needed something. Cody was eating takeout alot since Chris got sick, but he needed some actual soothing food. Once again, Chris drags himself out of bed and enters the living room, not even taking off the blanket, as it drags on the floor.

_ “Hey..Cody?” _

Bellinger pauses the PS4 and turns around. Perked at attention as if he was a dog.

_ “Can you pick up something for me at Ralph’s?” _

_ “Ye-yeah.”  _ He stands up and reaches over for a notepad, and pen ready to make a grocery list. Chris makes his way to the kitchen, browsing the pantries and opening up the fridge.

_ “Uh, I guess a can of chicken noodle soup and a two liter of ginger ale.”  _ Chris rummages through one of the drawers. _ “And a box of saltines! That’s it.” _ He looks back at Cody.  _ “Think you can handle that?” _

_ “Of course! You can count on me!” _ Cody delivers a big, eager smile. The kind of smile that tugged at Chris’ heart, in a way. No matter how badly Cody screwed up, blew up the sound system, break the light fixtures, ruin the paint on the walls or bust a hole in the wall --

That smile brought Chris back around again.

Cody pulls up into the parking lot of the Ralph’s on West 9th street. This part was easy enough. Exiting his car, he grabs a shopping cart, although he didn’t really need one, and enters the store. The entire layout seemed like a labyrinth to Cody. Wall after wall of different products and what not. Even being six foot four, he’s being pushed and shoved around by eager shoppers ready end their grocery trip as fast as they can.

He circles around the store a few times, looking more and more lost with each lap. Eventually he goes down the cookie aisle, looking for someone to ask for help. The only person he’s able to spot is an elderly lady desperately reaching for a box of breakfast biscuits.

Cody’s inner boy scout springs forth.  _ “I can get it for you miss!” _ He rushes over and reaches for the box with ease, gracefully placing it in her cart.

_ “Thank you sir.” _ She returns a warm smile.  _ “Thank you so much.” _

Cody smiles, nods and turns away, getting ready to return to his own cart, until the idea arrives.  _ “Excuse me miss?” _

The elderly lady looks up at Bellinger.

_ “Could you help me find a few things?” _ He meekly smiles. _ “I am uh... “  _ He struggles to find the words.  _ “Not used to grocery shopping on my own.” _ A grown man, Cody Bellinger, was admitting to this much, took an enormous chunk of his pride. If he had any.

She smiles.  _ “Of course, dear. What do you need to find?” _

\---

Cody returns home with a paper bag, setting it on the kitchen table.  _ “Hey, Chris?”  _ He shouts in the direction of Taylor’s bedroom. After a minute, the door opens and Chris emerges from the darkness, his blanket dragging behind him.

It was a scene from Dracula.

_ “I brought your stuff!”  _ Cody cheerfully informs him, pulling out the can of soup from the bag.  _ “Chunky, see? A grandma told me that this is the good stuff!”  _ Cody gave that eager smile again.

Chris warms up slightly. _ “Yeah … just what I needed.”  _ He picks up the can and inspects it. Cody takes the bottle of ginger ale and box of saltines out of the bag as well. He felt proud of himself, even if he did get a little help. He said thanks by paying that old lady’s grocery bill for her. It was the least this giant man-child could do.

_ “You did well, kid.”  _ There wasn’t that many years difference between the two, but it felt like a proper thing to say. Cody eyes brightened, like a child receiving his first gold star in kindergarten.

_ “Get better soon! We have some pole lessons to get to!”  _ He pats Chris on the shoulder and goes to the sofa, turning on the PS4.

Chris freezes. He suddenly remembers he has  _ that _ to deal with when he gets well.

It might be for the best if he draws this flu out for as long as he possibly can.


End file.
